Keto!

[Prettylittlethings4]

Hi people of mumsnet!

I’m sat on my sofa like a baked potato having just drank a hot chocolate with marshmallows and ate a salted caramel and chocolate hot cross bun… things are not going well!

So, typical me is vegetarian 80% of the time (I call it the ‘meats a treat’ lifestyle) and I’m fairly healthy in my food choices.. normally… but over the last few months things have taken a turn for the worse (at risk of redundancy, a close relative has died, I’m doing a qualification and had a 7k assignment to complete etc)…. And in my hour(s) of need I’ve turned to delicious sugar and carbs… like a hug from the inside from delicious carby deliciousness.

So now I’m getting cravings and need to stop them! It’s gone too far! I’ve gained some weight and while I’m not overweight I’m looking tubby/cloths are not fitting etc… and my skin is looking old (dull and just rubbishy)…. So I need a change, starting from next week (as I’m on holiday this week… and I need to meal prep.. plus eat the remaining hot cross buns and banana bread…)

So I thought…. Keto! I’ll do that! Low carb/sugar diet is what I need! And let’s go hard core boot camp style! It will be like going to sugar/carb rehab! And as I write that I think I’m crazy! I mean, I’ll possibly be twitching in a corner from withdrawal!

So with that riveting story as context - any thoughts on Keto? Or any alternative to break the sugar/carb addiction I have right now? Is cold turkey a terrible desperate crazy idea?

*I’ve intended to try and be lighthearted in this post because a) I love humour and b) right now, I need light hearted humour with a sprinkle of serious.

You lost me at "80% vegetarian" and "meat's a treat" but good luck!

Yeah you need meat. Protein is the most satisfying macro and plant protein is just so inferior in too many ways.

I lost 8 stone with meat heavy keto and am now carnivore to keep my autoimmune disease in remission.

Good luck.
I’m cutting out sugar & all things carb as much as possible, or at least I was till my DS bought me the biggest box of maltesers for Mother’s Day I’ve ever seen, which is currently waving at me from the dresser. He also bought me a beautiful bowl of hyacinth bulbs & honestly the overpowering scent is the best appetite surpressant I’ve ever come across.
Today I start, again, as yesterday I fell foul of five of the maltesers. Currently debating should I hide them away or test my willpower leaving them to wave & beckon.

Have lost weight successfully with Keto (lots of meat though) and the OH swears by it and he will go low carb whenever he feels heavy. The first week or so is tough (Keto Flu, diarrhoea...) but when you start to feel better you do feel good. Eating out is nigh on impossible though unless you like steak and salad wherever you go, also you have to be super prepared with shopping and stuff. Not my favourite way to lose weight.

I’m similar to your dh @Hoglet70 and drop pasta/bread/rice/potatoes whenever I’m feeling heavy, currently now! I don’t weigh myself but my trousers are beginning to feel snug.
It’s a bit of a pain in that I love bread and potatoes in almost every way and they form a part of almost all our evening meals but with a bit of careful planning I can substitute.
I absolutely don’t say in low carbing because I will eat everything else eg mango which is quite high in carbs and so on I’m literally just making some swaps. I don’t put my body into ketosis, I suppose I’m just dropping easy calories. I exercise a moderate amount so that’s staying the same.
I just do it for a few weeks until I’ve gotten out of the habit of mindlessly eating 3 bags of crisps throughout the day while I wfh, or stop reaching for the door of the chocolate biscuit cupboard instinctively. And focusing on health fats, protein and a lot more veg.
I’m careful about how I go about it as I have a teen daughter still living at home and I don’t ever talk about it in front of her, and I don’t want her to notice my low carb swaps!

This.

you cannot sustain very low carb without plenty of protein and fats. Meat is a must.

yum!!!

Keto was miserable and not sustainable. Done it for 6 wks and lost nearly a stone. But i was miserable. Then i switched to intermittent fasting and the weight just melted away!! Honestly its the best. Just water, black tea of coffee during the fasting window. I done a 20 hr daily fast at first to really kick myself up the but. Eat normally during the eating window. I lost a stone in 3 weeks but then got pregnant 😅

I now do 18:6 (18 hr fast, 6 hr eating window) and lost a stone since Christmas but I have been naughty and ate sugary treats during my eating window!! Obviously the fewer carbs you consume in your eating window the more effective your weight loss will be